Reinforcement Perspectives on Motivation

Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his associates. It states that individual’s behavior is a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”, i.e., individual’s behavior with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated. Reinforcement Perspective is the process of shaping behavior by controlling the consequences of the behavior. "The theory is a combination of rewards and/or punishments is used to reinforce desired behavior or extinguish unwanted behavior.”

Different kinds of Reinforcement:

· Positive Reinforcement - This implies giving a positive response when an individual shows positive and required behavior. For example - Immediately praising an employee for coming early for job. This will increase probability of outstanding behavior occurring again. Reward is a positive reinforce, but not necessarily. If and only if the employees’ behavior improves, reward can said to be a positive reinforce. Positive reinforcement stimulates occurrence of a behavior. It must be noted that more spontaneous is the giving of reward, the greater reinforcement value it has.

· Negative Reinforcement- This implies rewarding an employee by removing negative / undesirable consequences. Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used for increasing desirable / required behavior.

· Punishment- It implies removing positive consequences so as to lower the probability of repeating undesirable behavior in future. In other words, punishment means applying undesirable consequence for showing undesirable behavior. For instance - Suspending an employee for breaking the organizational rules. Punishment can be equalized by positive reinforcement from alternative source.

· Extinction- It implies absence of reinforcements. In other words, extinction implies lowering the probability of undesired behavior by removing reward for that kind of behavior. For instance - if an employee no longer receives praise and admiration for his good work, he may feel that his behavior is generating no fruitful consequence. Extinction may unintentionally lower desirable behaviour.

Reinforcement within an Organization:

· Fixed-Interval Schedule within in an organization this would be showing reinforcement on a fixed interval schedule, such as with weekly paying periods or yearly raises. With this, the employee knows that if they work for 40 hours in a week then they should receive the reinforcement of their weekly paycheck.

· Variable-Interval Schedule is where you as a manager provide reinforcement at varying intervals of time. This means that you provide reinforcement on a regular schedule, but the employee just does not really know when to expect it next.

· Fixed-Ratio Scheduleis a type of reinforcement where time is not included in when the employee gets reinforcement. Fixed ratio is based more on how many times the employee does a good behavior. I understand this best with a punch card for my favorite lunch place. Every time I buy lunch at this particular place I get a punch in my card, then after I get nine punches and come in for the tenth time I would get my meal for free for being a frequent customer.

· Variable-Ratio Scheduleprovides reinforcement after varying numbers of behaviors are performed. I think this is probably one of the best ways to reinforce your employees. With this type of reinforcement you are reinforcing them, but they do not know when to expect it. With all the other type of schedules, the employees can figure out when they will receive the reinforcement, but not really with this one.